


McMaster 119

by fleete



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Machines, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 04:49:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleete/pseuds/fleete
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen’s favorite place is Elena’s machine shop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	McMaster 119

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LoveChilde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveChilde/gifts).



Gwen’s favorite place is her roommate’s machine shop.

The door’s always open, the air always warm. There’s a fine layer of wood dust over everything in the back, where the wood router is, and there’s curly scraps of aluminum all over the floor in the front, where Elena’s computer controlled mill resides.

Elena keeps all sorts of odd things around. It’s like a treasure hunt, to go through her shelves. There’s a crocodile head on one wall—Gwen assumes it’s fake, but who knows—a pin-up of Burt Reynolds, a teddy bear whom Elena had taken the stuffing out of and put blinking red lights in the eyes.

The shelves hold boxes of electronics, metal whiziwhigs, motorcycle helmets, and books. The books include industrial supply catalogs, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, a book in Korean, and for some reason, _Etiquette_ by Emily Post.

There’s a perfect little cubbyhole where Gwen can sit and look at all the things, wrapped in an old blanket that Elena keeps around for taking naps. It’s basically a cupboard with no door on it, and it’s just big enough that Gwen can curl up in it like a cat and drift while Elena’s machines whir in the background.

She’s not sure how long she’s been sitting there today when Elena’s legs appear before her. Elena squats. “Bad day?” she asks, offering a cup of tea.

“Yes.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“All right. I have to wait for this program to run. I’ll be over here.” Elena pulls out her chair and settles in front of her computer. Soon she's clicking away at whatever computer model she's working on. Gwen can’t see the computer screen, so she leans her head against the side of the cupboard and clutches the cup of tea to her chest. It’s warm against her breastbone.

“Thanks for the tea," Gwen says faintly.

Gwen's not sure how long she sits there, napping intermittently and trying hard not to think about school. Or work. Or how she's going to manage to finish the one while doing the other. If her supervisor yells at her one more time...

"I made you something," Elena says, appearing in front of the cupboard once more. She has flecks of aluminum shavings in her hair. It looks like glitter.

Gwen gawps at the little piece of metal Elena is holding in front her face.

“Is that a—”

“Obviously.”

It’s a vagina. Or a vulva. Gwen always gets those words mixed up. It’s just a metal outline, but there’s something satisfying about the little cut-out, the way it fits in her hand when Elena gives it over, its small curves.

“It’s pretty,” she says.

“It’s also good for stabbing things,” Elena says seriously. “See? Pointy ends.”

Gwen laughs.


End file.
